Second fix and finishes: from kitchen and bathrooms to snagging

Second fix is the part of the build you will see and touch every day: doors, stairs, kitchen, bathrooms, sockets, paint and floors. It is also the point where costs creep, delays come from late deliveries rather than slow work, and the paperwork needed to move in and to release the last payment comes together. Plan it as a sequence, and keep a list of what is still missing.

What happens, in order

1. Joinery. Internal doors, door linings, skirting, architrave, stairs and handrails. Often done before painting, with the doors hung and then taken off to be painted or sprayed.
2. Kitchen and fitted furniture. Units and worktops are fitted. Worktops often need a template after the units go in, which adds a delivery gap.
3. Second-fix plumbing and heating. Taps, toilets, baths, showers, radiators and the heating controls are connected and tested.
4. Second-fix electrics. Sockets, switches, lights, the consumer unit, smoke and heat alarms, and the data and aerial outlets.
5. Tiling. Bathrooms, kitchens and utility areas, including waterproofing in wet areas.
6. Painting and decoration. Mist coat and finish coats, with touch-ups after other trades.
7. Flooring. Timber, tile, carpet or vinyl, once moisture levels allow. See plastering, screed and drying out.
8. Commissioning. Heating, hot water, ventilation, electrics, wastewater or sewer connection and any renewable equipment are started up, tested and explained to you.
9. External works. Paths, driveway, landscaping, boundaries and the connection of services. See site works and services.
10. Cleaning, certification and snagging. Builder’s clean, completion certificates, final BER, then your inspection list.

Order early, and keep a delivery list

Make one list with item, supplier, order date, quoted lead time, delivery date and who receives it. Items that regularly hold up the end are:

• Kitchens, worktops and appliances.
• Internal doors, ironmongery and stairs.
• Sanitaryware, taps, shower screens and tiles.
• Windows or glazing that were ordered wrongly the first time.
• Flooring, particularly special orders.
• Heat pump, cylinder and ventilation units.

Check each item on arrival for damage and compare it with the order before you accept it. A returned item takes weeks.

What to check as it goes in

• Levels and alignment. Doors hang square and close without catching, units are level, and worktops meet the wall with an even gap.
• Wet areas. Showers and baths have waterproofing behind the tiles and sealed edges. Test taps and drains for flow and leaks before the tiler closes up.
• Electrical fittings. Every socket and switch works. Smoke and heat alarms are present and, where required, linked. The consumer unit is labelled.
• Heating and ventilation. Every radiator or zone heats, controls respond, and extract fans move air. Ask the installer to explain how to operate and maintain them and to leave the manual.
• Finishes. Check paint and plaster in raking light, tile grout lines and floor edges.
• Keys and security. Locks work, keys are counted, and the builder hands over every key.

Take photographs of finished rooms before furniture goes in, so that later damage is easy to date.

Commissioning and certificates

Commissioning means someone qualified has started each system, measured how it performs and shown you how to use it. A boiler or heat pump that runs is not necessarily set up properly, and a ventilation unit with the wrong flow rates can leave the house damp. Do not accept “it’s working” as a handover.

Ask for these as the systems are finished and keep them in one folder:

Item	What you need
Electrical installation	The completion certificate from the registered electrical contractor. See the ESB Networks certification process
Heating and hot water	Commissioning record, controls guide and servicing instructions
Gas or oil appliance	The installer’s certificate where fuel-fired appliances are fitted
Ventilation system	Commissioning record with measured flows
Wastewater system or sewer connection	Commissioning record and servicing details
Airtightness test	The test report
Completion certificate	Signed by the assigned certifier and builder, registered with the building control authority where statutory certification applies
Final BER	Issued after the assessor surveys the finished house
Warranties and manuals	Windows, roof, boiler or heat pump, wastewater unit, kitchen appliances
As-built drawings	Showing where services and drains actually run

Where statutory certification applies, the completion certificate must be lodged and valid before the house is opened, occupied or used. Start the paperwork before the finishing work ends, because chasing a missing signature on the last day is the usual cause of a late move. See certificate of compliance on completion and BER certificate for a new home.

Snagging

Do the inspection when the house is clean and well lit, not while the trades are still working in it. Snagging with a painter on a ladder in every room finds little and gets argued about.

Snag before the final payment, in writing, against the drawings and specification. Do a first pass yourself, then consider hiring a surveyor or engineer for a larger house. The full list of checks is in snagging your new house. Agree dates for repairs, and keep retention until the work is done, as your contract permits.

What goes wrong, and what it costs

The pressure at the end of a build is high: the rental is ending, the bank is charging interest and the family wants to move. That is when people agree to move in before the paperwork is done. Resist it, and agree a realistic move date with the builder when the programme is set.

• Late kitchen or worktop. The fitting date moves by weeks, and the plumber and electrician must return.
• Flooring on damp screed. Failure appears after you move in, and the cost of lifting and relaying is large.
• Missing commissioning. Heating works but is not balanced, ventilation runs too slow, and the house is uncomfortable or damp.
• Last-minute changes. Moving a socket or sink after tiling costs money and breaks the finish.
• Paperwork gaps. A missing certificate delays the move, the final drawdown or a later sale.
• Disputes over what is a defect. Agree the standard of work before you start, in the contract and specification.

Payments, site risks and cover

The last payments usually depend on completion evidence: the registered certificate, the final inspection by your lender’s inspector, and the end of the builder’s retention rules. Your builder’s final invoice and the lender’s final release may fall on different dates, so plan cash for the gap. See staged drawdown explained, mortgage interest during the build and the stage payment planner.

A finished house full of fittings is a theft target, and a leak or fire in an unoccupied new house is costly. Arrange the home policy to start when you take possession, and check that contract works cover continues until handover. Keep cover for the works until you have accepted the house in writing. See making a self-build insurance claim, structural defects cover and the cover checker.

After handover

• Certificates, warranties and manuals are in one folder.
• The final BER is issued.
• Snag list agreed and a date set for the defects review.
• Utilities, home insurance and address details are switched to your name.